Casper Man To Face Trial On Multiple Child Sex Abuse Charges

A Casper man, who faces a possible lifetime sentence behind bars, waived his preliminary hearing on multiple charges of child sexual abuse in Natrona County Circuit Court on Thursday.

Stefan Wayne Voltaire's public defender, Rob Oldham, told Circuit Court Judge Steve Brown that he would waive the hearing in which the state presents evidence that a crime was committed and the accused probably committed it.

Voltaire will appear for his arraignment in Natrona County District Court at a later date.

He remains in custody on a $100,000 cash bond.

During the brief appearance, Assistant District Attorney Kevin Taheri submitted an amended information.

Voltaire originally was charged with six counts of first-degree sexual abuse (rape) of a minor, four counts of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, and one count of sexual exploitation of children.

In the amended information, he is charged with six counts of first-degree sexual abuse of a minor; six counts of immodest, immoral or indecent liberties with a minor (third-degree sexual abuse of a minor); and one count of sexual exploitation of children (possession of child pornography).

If convicted on all of those counts, he faces a sentence of between 150 years to 400 years of imprisonment.

In a separate, but related hearing later Thursday, the mother of the alleged child victim and Voltaire appeared before Circuit Court Judge Michael Patchen in a civil case. Voltaire agreed to a court order from Patchen requested by the mother that he have no contact with her, the child, and other members of her family.

The case started early March 1 after after Voltaire's girlfriend found inappropriate pictures of the victim on a computer belonging to Voltaire.

The affidavit lists groups of photos taken from early June through late February. Several pictures allegedly depicted sexual intrusion, while others allegedly depicted sexual contact.

The victim's mother reportedly told a detective that she saw photos in which Voltaire had his hands on the victim.

Voltaire allegedly told investigators that he had joined an "online erotic community" and participated in a "game" created by other members. The "game" was to find incest pornography videos and create "erotica" videos for others to view, according to the affidavit.

"This idea encouraged [Voltaire] to photograph [the victim] due to his liking of father vs daughter pornography," according to the affidavit.